The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 87: He Must Have Done Something Good in a Past Life
Chapter 87: He Must Have Done Something Good in a Past Life
Tristan Sterling listened to his daughter, a gentle smile on his face as he told her to eat well and listen to her grandparents.
Melissa Sterling obediently agreed. "Daddy, make sure you rest and come back soon."
"Okay, Daddy knows. I’ll be back in a couple of days."
「Around ten in the morning.」
Vanguard issued a formal apology statement. The wording was sincere, expressing their deepest apologies and stating that they had taken serious action against the personnel involved.
The statement was only posted on the forum.
It wasn’t released across all networks, just as Rachel Royce had requested. There was no need to blow the matter up to the point where everyone knew about it.
Once the apology statement was released,
the slanderous rumors about Rachel Royce that had circulated for about a day were finally put to rest. No one was talking about it anymore.
But that couldn’t stop people from discussing and speculating in private.
When Claire Ainsworth saw the apology statement, she was furious. Her initial goal had been to let the public outcry fester to disgust and humiliate Rachel Royce, but she never expected the matter to be resolved so quickly.
She called Suzanne Sullivan and threw a huge tantrum over the phone.
Suzanne Sullivan then called Tristan Sterling, telling him to have someone keep an eye on Claire and stop her from doing anything impulsive.
「In the days that followed.」
Rachel Royce was busy with work every day, but she still received calls from her daughter. She woke up at six every morning, and at seven sharp, her daughter would call. They would chat for a few minutes and wish each other good morning.
Melissa would also call in the evening, and those conversations lasted much longer.
It gave Rachel the distinct impression that her daughter somehow knew she was her real mother. Her busy life was suddenly filled with a new sense of anticipation.
Melissa wanted to see her over the weekend.
But this week was impossible; she had to go on a business trip.
Sensing her daughter’s disappointment, Rachel promised they would meet up as soon as she got back.
Only then did Melissa cheer up again.
「One day.」
Rachel Royce received a call from an unknown number. She answered, "Hello?"
A familiar, arrogant voice came from the other end. "Miss Evelynn."
Rachel’s expression turned serious. She greeted the caller again, "Mrs. Sterling, hello."
Sylvia Shannon didn’t beat around the bush. "I didn’t realize you were so two-faced, Miss Evelynn. Did you just ignore everything I said?!" Her tone was accusatory.
Rachel’s face darkened, but she knew exactly what Sylvia was talking about.
She had fully expected this call.
Rachel asked calmly in return, "Mrs. Sterling, do you truly love your granddaughter? Does seeing her happy make you unhappy?"
Sylvia Shannon’s expression changed instantly.
Even through the phone, Rachel could feel Sylvia’s fury.
’Tristan Sterling’s arrogant, self-righteous nature was inherited from Sylvia Shannon, though of course, he was even worse than his mother.’
"I know what you’re worried about, Mrs. Sterling. I just want to say that I have no interest in a man as cold, arrogant, and rude as your son. Honestly, for him to have a daughter as adorable and well-behaved as Melissa, he must have done something good in a past life."
"Evelynn!" Sylvia suppressed her anger, maintaining the composure expected of a high-ranking official’s wife. "You dare speak to me like that? Do you really think you’re so capable?"
Rachel replied, completely unfazed. "The truth is often hard to hear, and I can understand why you can’t accept it, Mrs. Sterling. But even if I were to shower you with flattery, you wouldn’t appreciate it, so being direct is better. If you’re going to threaten and retaliate against me just because I said something you didn’t like, then for the wife of a leader, you are being incredibly petty."
"You..."
Listening to Rachel, Sylvia Shannon was so angry she was momentarily speechless. No one had ever dared to speak to her like that.
"Fine. I’d like to see just how capable you really are."
After saying her piece, Sylvia hung up.
Rachel put down her phone and let out a breath, her own expression grim. ’Sylvia will just investigate me and try to sabotage my work, that’s all.’
She wasn’t worried about her work with Rowan.
But the TV station was likely another story. For someone like Sylvia, getting Rachel’s job suspended would only take a single word.
「That night.」
Sure enough, she received a call from the station director. He told her they had to suspend her upcoming work at the station and worriedly asked who she had offended.
The station director had been helpless when he received the call. The finance program Rachel hosted every Saturday was consistently breaking viewership records, and he valued her highly.
But this was a call he couldn’t refuse.
But Rachel was unconcerned. "Then let’s just suspend it for now. We can revisit this after I’ve handled the work I have on hand."
"Alright then," the director said helplessly. "I’ll see if I can do some mediating on my end."
"Thank you, Director."
「The next day, Friday.」
「Seven o’clock.」
Rachel Royce didn’t get a call from Melissa.
She couldn’t hide the disappointment in her heart, but she didn’t regret what she had said the day before.
’If Sylvia Shannon knew I was Rachel Royce, she would probably try even harder to stop me from seeing Melissa.’
’It would be a lie to say she felt no resentment.’
She adjusted her mindset, got dressed, and headed out.
Today she was preparing to leave for Athera.
Florence Preston had packed her luggage early that morning. While they were having breakfast, Wendy Royce asked how long the business trip would be.
"It depends. If everything goes smoothly, about four or five days."
Wendy nodded and offered a few words of concern.
「After breakfast.」
Thomas Sterling drove her to the company.
「Meanwhile.」
Melissa had wanted to call Rachel Royce that morning, but she discovered her watch phone was broken. Sylvia Shannon coaxed her to eat, promising to take her to get it fixed after breakfast. But Melissa insisted on using Sylvia’s phone to call Rachel.
Even though her watch phone was broken, she had already memorized Rachel’s number.
Sylvia hadn’t expected Melissa to have memorized the number. Her only option was to claim that her own phone happened to be broken too.
Melissa went to the nanny to ask for her phone, but of course, the nanny couldn’t give it to her. She also had to say her phone was broken.
Such a clumsy excuse might have fooled another five-year-old, but Melissa understood immediately. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at her grandmother. "Grandma, you don’t want me to call Aunt Evelynn, do you?"
Seeing her granddaughter on the verge of tears, Sylvia was at a loss.
Melissa ran crying back to her bedroom, threw herself onto the bed, and sobbed. No amount of coaxing from Sylvia worked, and she refused to eat her breakfast.
Still, Sylvia steeled her heart and refused to give Melissa the phone.
Her only recourse was to call Tristan Sterling.
Tristan answered the call.
Sylvia quickly explained the situation.
"Put Melissa on the phone."
Sylvia went back into Melissa’s room. Hearing her granddaughter’s sobs, she felt her own heart breaking. "Melissa, it’s Daddy on the phone."
Melissa lifted her head, sat up, and took Sylvia’s phone, her voice choked with sobs. "Daddy."
"Don’t cry, Melissa. Tell Daddy what’s wrong," Tristan Sterling said, his deep, magnetic voice unusually gentle.
"Grandma won’t let me call Aunt Evelynn," Melissa said plaintively.
"So you got angry at Grandma? And refused to eat breakfast?"
Melissa mumbled, "Grandma lied to me."
